Scummy Alpha CEO Keeps Courting Death [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 25
“Luo Maoping, why is your Eagle Eye so useless?”
“My gifted skill is Eagle Eye, not X-ray vision.”
“That’s too lame!”
“I wonder how Lu Xibie is doing…”
…
Chu Liruo’s gaze kept sweeping across the white light in the center of the arena. When a participant is severely injured and needs a temporary stop to the match, the corresponding participant’s white light will turn red.
The special uniform worn by Lu Xibie and the alien suit worn by Dan Ruojing each correspond to a light.
“It hasn’t turned red yet, she should be okay.”
“Absolute Defense isn’t that easy to break. That’s my idol Gu Ruyue’s gifted skill!”
…
Being swallowed by Dan Ruojing’s Mandara flower should mean pitch-black darkness all around, but the light was only slightly dim; light could still penetrate the flower wall of the Mandara.
Lu Xibie looked at the mixture of pink and yellow outside the protective barrier, forming colors of varying depths. As the Mandara contracted, they flowed outside the light shield. It didn’t look like a death announcement; it was more like watching a kaleidoscope of bizarre and vibrant colors.
Lu Xibie reached out to touch the protective barrier shielding her. Unlike the imagined icy touch, it was warm.
When her hand rested on it, she actually felt a sense of excitement.
Excitement?
The unusual emotion caused Lu Xibie to frown uncomfortably.
See-see-
Jing! (A homophone for ‘Quiet’ or ‘Still’)
As the yellow liquid poured down again, the “Lu Xibie” inside her mind suddenly went wild. The protective barrier she was touching suddenly generated a force and pushed Lu Xibie’s hand away.
Dan Ruojing closed her eyes, and the situation inside the Mandara flower appeared before her. She pouted, looking at Lu Xibie inside, who seemed completely fine.
“That’s not enough,” Dan Ruojing took a few steps forward. The stem of the Mandara flower on her right shoulder swayed back and forth. A few Mandara flowers on it looked like they were about to fall, causing some students close to the arena to lean back, and some quickly left their seats to move toward the back.
“Go,” Dan Ruojing lightly commanded. The few dangling Mandara flowers detached from the stem and scattered toward Lu Xibie, piling up like a human tower on top of the previous Mandara flower.
The light gradually darkened.
She-she-
Lu Xibie pressed her hand to her temple, looking up at the surging dark colors outside the protective barrier. The mind, which had become unusually noisy after leaving Chu Liruo, became even more chaotic under the effect of the liquid outside the protective barrier. The pulse under her fingertip throbbed, causing a sharp pain.
“Squeak—”
The protective barrier made a grating, screeching sound as it was squeezed.
Dan Ruojing extended her right hand, repeating the motion of opening and closing her fist. The layers of Mandara flowers contracted and expanded with it. After repeating this more than ten times, she lost her patience, and the hand that had been loosely clenched closed all the way.
A heart-stopping crushing sound echoed throughout the venue.
“Hearing that makes me feel like my bones are being squeezed.”
“Hiss—”
“Look! This time, it looks like Dan Ruojing is trying to crush Lu Xibie’s protective barrier!”
…
“Dan Ruojing has run out of patience.”
“No wonder. It’s been a tense ten minutes. It seems Lu Xibie is indeed fine, or she wouldn’t have launched a new attack.”
Zzz—
Zzz—
The sound of pressure from all directions traveled through the protective membrane into Lu Xibie’s ears. Perhaps because she was enveloped by Dan Ruojing’s Lifelong Xenogeneic Creature (本命异生生物), the “Lu Xibie” in her mind was extremely active. She was almost unable to control her hands and feet, flailing wildly inside the protective barrier.
Lu Xibie instinctively resisted.
But then she suddenly had another thought: What if she could break it from the inside?
If the protective barrier was gone, wouldn’t she—
The moment this thought appeared, Lu Xibie stopped controlling her body, letting the “Lu Xibie” flail inside the protective barrier.
Watching Lu Xibie’s movements, Dan Ruojing’s lips curved slightly, thinking her attack had worked. She clenched the hand controlling the Mandara flower even tighter.
“Boom—”
An explosion echoed throughout the entire venue, sounding like it could flatten the stadium.
“You scared me!”
“Holy moly! What happened?!”
Many students in the stands were startled by the noise and jumped up, their eyes instinctively looking towards the arena.
Tattered petals scattered around the arena, blocked by the barrier outside the arena and fell back to the ground, covering it in a thin layer.
“It didn’t work!”
“I told you Lu Xibie was fine.” Zhu Xiaotao nonchalantly put some food into her mouth.
“Mhm,” Chu Liruo hummed, but her heart was still anxious.
In the previous life—
Just thinking about it felt like a pair of hands were gripping her neck, dragging her hair, and forcing her head underwater, making her re-experience the pain of her gifted skill being stripped away from her body.
Dan Ruojing definitely wasn’t this simple!
Dan Ruojing looked at Lu Xibie flailing inside the faint light shield: “Very good.”
She bit her index finger and placed it on the flower stem on her right shoulder. The crimson blood made her look demonic. The thick flower stem sprouted fine branches again, this time bearing one round fruit after another. From a distance, they looked just like white apricots.
“Poison Thorns! It’s the other form of the Mutated Mandara Flower!” a student from the Biological Exploration and Research Department shouted, pointing at the Mandara flower stem on Dan Ruojing’s right shoulder. She looked almost fanatical at the sight of it.
If only she could get closer and study it properly.
Lu Xibie let the “Lu Xibie” control her body. Perhaps it was the supporting character’s mission; “she” danced and gestured, moving closer to Dan Ruojing.
Dan Ruojing looked at Lu Xibie’s bizarre behavior and just assumed her previous attack had taken effect.
“What’s wrong with Lu Xibie?”
“Yeah, why is she punching and kicking herself inside the protective barrier?”
“Could it be that the confusing mist she released earlier worked?”
…
“Xiao Hua is right, she’s a bad person.” Zhao Qingqi mumbled from the stands.
How could she treat her primal spirit like that?
“Could Lu Xibie be hit by the attack?”
“Shouldn’t she pass out then?”
“Yeah, Dan Ruojing’s opponents before passed out in less than a minute.”
“Maybe Lu Xibie’s Absolute Defense is stronger, the symptoms are lessened, and she didn’t pass out directly, just went a little crazy?”
“That makes sense.”
…
Chu Liruo looked at Lu Xibie in the arena with worry.
If it were the first day of her rebirth, whether Lu Xibie or Dan Ruojing died in front of her, she would have bought virtual fireworks on her optical computer and set them off for a few days.
But now, knowing there was no life-threatening danger, she couldn’t help but worry about Lu Xibie.
She supposed… they were friends.
She hadn’t forgotten everything Lu Xibie had done to her in the previous life.
But after the rebirth, they were, sort of, friends.
Lu Xibie got closer and closer to Dan Ruojing. She could see the congealed blood on Dan Ruojing’s lips, and the white, spiky fruits on the thick flower stem on her right shoulder.
“Poison Thorns!” As Lu Xibie walked up to Dan Ruojing, several fruits that had fallen from the flower stem simultaneously smashed toward Lu Xibie.
“Bang-Bang-Bang” sounds followed one after another.
Lu Xibie controlled her body, making herself stop in place to avoid reflecting all the attacks back at close range, like in her previous duel with Zhao Qingqi.
The white fruits weren’t as formidable as Lu Xibie had imagined. They didn’t create a gap in the protective barrier like Zhao Qingqi’s attack.
The spiky fruits only lingered on the surface of the protective barrier for an instant before being diverted elsewhere.
Seemingly tasting failure for the first time, Dan Ruojing’s expression remained the same, but the movements of her hands became more active. She clasped her hands together and brought them to her brow. The scattered white fruits, as if summoned, lined up in front of her, connecting end-to-end to form a circle, and wrapped around Lu Xibie.
The squeezing force generated by the individual, originally disconnected fruits under Dan Ruojing’s control was much stronger than the eight Mandara flowers earlier.
Lu Xibie stood still, even able to see the shapes of the spikes pressed against the protective barrier.
Is she going to win?
Lu Xibie looked at the situation before her.
Given Dan Ruojing’s current ability, she couldn’t die at her hands anyway.
But the mission had to be completed.
Due to the prolonged proximity to Dan Ruojing, the “Lu Xibie” was so active that her head was swollen with pain, like a sharp spike was growing out of her brain.
After continuous attacks, the protective barrier finally had an area clear enough to see outside. Lu Xibie looked towards the stands. She missed Chu Liruo a little.
At least when she saw her, the “Lu Xibie” in her mind would quiet down significantly.
“Break for me!” Dan Ruojing clenched her fist and sharply pulled her elbow back. The circle formed by the white fruits tightened around Lu Xibie again.
Just as it was about to reach the breaking point, Lu Xibie raised her right fist: “Teacher! I forfeit!”
“No. 257, First-Tier Gifted Skill System Lu Xibie forfeits. No. 51, First-Tier Xenogeneic System Dan Ruojing wins!”
The broadcast announcement rang out in the venue.
“What? Why did Lu Xibie just forfeit?”
“Yeah, didn’t Dan Ruojing fail to break her Absolute Defense?”
“She could have completely run Dan Ruojing out of energy like before!”
…
“Dan Ruojing’s energy was running low.”
“How can you tell?”
“The flower stem on her right shoulder has been constantly shrinking back into her body since she started controlling the fruits to squeeze Lu Xibie. That’s a direct sign of energy reduction.”
…
“Then why did Lu Xibie forfeit?”
“Out of old affection?”
“Isn’t Lu Xibie very close to Chu Liruo?”
“If that’s the case, her actions are not good. People are following their posts every day.”
“No. 51, please cease your attack!”
Dan Ruojing reluctantly released her hold. The flower stem retracted, and the fruits spun and returned into her body.
She glanced at Lu Xibie.
The light shield around Lu Xibie naturally disappeared. She walked toward Chu Liruo’s direction, preparing to leave the arena.
“You can’t go!” Dan Ruojing reached out and blocked Lu Xibie’s path.
“Why did you forfeit?” Dan Ruojing’s light pink eyes stared intently at Lu Xibie, giving the impression that she wouldn’t let her leave without a satisfactory answer.
Lu Xibie recalled the words from the plot summary and spoke: “It’s love.”
“It’s love?”
“A declaration of love?” ( – a homophone for ‘It’s love’ in this context)
“What? What?”
“Dan Ruojing asked Lu Xibie why she forfeited, and she said it was love?! Forfeit because of love?”
“A declaration of love? No matter how you interpret it, it doesn’t quite make sense!”
“Oh my god! I followed her and Chu Liruo’s posts, but how could someone be like this? Isn’t her wife Chu Liruo good enough?”
“She’s using this to declare her love for Dan Ruojing?!”
…
“It shouldn’t be.”
“I thought their posts were very sweet.”
Many people’s eyes turned to Chu Liruo at this moment.
Seeing the situation in the arena, Ji Ningyu reached out and placed a hand on Chu Liruo’s leg.
Chu Liruo looked up at Ji Ningyu and gently shook her head, indicating she was fine. She returned her gaze to the arena.
Dan Ruojing tilted her head, reached up to pinch her ear, and ran her tongue over her lips, bringing in a metallic taste of blood: “What?”
Lu Xibie changed her direction and replied: “I want to go back and be with Chu Liruo sooner.”
“Just because of that?” Dan Ruojing frowned, perplexed.
Lu Xibie met Dan Ruojing’s gaze with composure: “Mhm.”
…
Dan Ruojing was speechless. She suddenly remembered how Lu Xibie used to follow her around, and she had a much-improved impression of her since the start of this school year. She hadn’t expected—
“Sweet! Sweet! Sweet!”
“I knew it!”
“This isn’t a declaration of love to Dan Ruojing; it’s clearly a declaration of love to Chu Liruo!”
“I didn’t expect the little tyrant to be so… clever.”
“How long has the match been? She’s already rushing back to be with Chu Liruo.”
“Newlyweds, absence makes the heart grow fonder, understand?”
…
Lu Xibie stepped to the side, only to be blocked by Dan Ruojing again.
“What is it? The match is over.” Lu Xibie reminded her.
“You are not taking the competition seriously!” Dan Ruojing said righteously.
Lu Xibie blinked, nodded “Mhm,” and lifted her leg to walk.
Before she could take a step, Dan Ruojing grabbed her arm. Lu Xibie looked up and sighed: “I am not taking the competition seriously. Can I go now?”
Dan Ruojing: “Lu Xibie, I thought you had made significant progress. I didn’t expect you to still follow a woman around, not even taking the match seriously!”
She-she
Jing-Jing-
Lu Xibie felt the sharp pain from her temple. She glanced in Chu Liruo’s direction and looked at Dan Ruojing: “Miss Dan, I am indeed like this, with no progress whatsoever. I just want to go back and be with Chu Liruo sooner.”
“You…” Lu Xibie’s straightforward answer left Dan Ruojing with no words to express her disappointment.
Lu Xibie was blocked by Dan Ruojing again: “Miss Dan, is there anything else? Do I need to remind you? The match is over. You won.”
Dan Ruojing: “Your gifted skill is Absolute Defense. Why did you…”
Lu Xibie: “Miss Dan, do you feel that your victory is undeserved? Then let me put it another way: My energy is exhausted, and once my energy is exhausted, all I want is to find Chu Liruo and stay by her side.”
Dan Ruojing: “You’re acting too…”
Lu Xibie: “Unambitious?”
Dan Ruojing nodded slightly.
Lu Xibie: “Miss Dan has an extraordinary desire for great power, but currently, all I want is to stay by her side. We are both pursuing what we desire, aren’t we?”
Lu Xibie walked past Dan Ruojing toward Chu Liruo.
“Look! Look!”
“Lu Xibie is coming!”
…
“No. 267, First-Tier Gifted Skill System Lu Xibie forfeits. No. 51, First-Tier Xenogeneic System Dan Ruojing wins!”
“Plot Point Five, completed. Reward: Evolution Value 100.”
The system prompt sounded in Lu Xibie’s ears. She walked step by step toward Chu Liruo. As she got closer, the clamoring voice of the “Lu Xibie” in her mind gradually subsided until it returned to its usual, accustomed volume.
Chu Liruo’s face felt slightly warm as she looked at Lu Xibie standing before her: “You… why did you forfeit? You could have won.”
Lu Xibie shook her head: “I’m not as great as you say. Do you have time later? Want to go collect fallen leaves?”
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